Tuesday, April 5, 2011

I'm quite proud of myself that I have already finished my April bag in the Amy Butler Style Stitches Challenges. Ahem...what is the date? Why, it's only April 5! And I actually finished it on April 3, but just needed to take pictures and upload them. Very proud, I must say.

So, this month was a checkbook cover. I had the same reactions of other people in that I wondered, "what on earth am I going to do with a checkbook cover?" I write about 1-2 checks per month and haven't had a checkbook cover in years. I admit, I don't balance my checkbook as I rely heavily on online banking. So, what will I do with it? I think I will pass it along to my mom, who hasn't quite yet adapted to the ATM era.

The finished checkbook cover

A slightly pathetic picture where I am trying to show all three fabrics at once.

The inside of the check cover. It includes a pen holder!

And here's the outside, just so that you can get a better glimpse of the fabric choice.

I already had the fabric in my stash. I purchased it at a cute quilting shop in Connecticut called TheYankee Quilter. I don't remember what the fabric brands were. I used regular quilting fabric, not home decor fabric as the pattern suggested. I think that home decor might have worked a little better, as I feel that I can see the outline of the snap through the olive green quilting fabric. But overall, I still think it came out cute.

The pattern was the first in the book labeled as being "intermediate." I thought it was fairly easy. The hardest part was sewing around the curve of the flap, but I just took things slow and the stitches came out pretty good. I think it also feels pretty easy because I'm getting used to Amy's directions. Although this is the first time I used magnetic snaps, I still think they're easier than zippers!

I'm really excited about next month's bag and already have all the fabric selected. It's going to be really gorgeous, provided I can get the pleats to work!